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We stayed here for several days to tackle a job on the headsail cover. The self adhesive on the cover was lifting and the cover was perishing badly. The job was to glue back down the cover, replace a section with acrylic canvas, and sow it up. Handling the big sail in the cockpit around the sewing machine was an ordeal. We then left to head back to Gizo, going around the north coast of New Georgia.. The first leg along the New Georgia coast was about 30 miles to Pipa Passage. This was an easy trip with little wind. We anchored in deep water (20 metres) in a large harbour. The snorkelling on the outside reef was reported by Tegan to be excellent but after the day's travel we couldn't raise the energy to go. We had two men visit us who gave us some vegetables and fruit wth no expectation of something in return. Quite a rare event in the Solomon's.
The next morning we stopped a passing motor canoe because we noticed the mound covered with plastic - a sure sign they were on their way to market. We bought some lovely tasting bananas. We set off again with light motor sailing winds. This leg took us over the top of New Georgia and at the entrance to Blackett Strait. We headed into to Jericho Harbour for the night. This was a small bay with the village densely packed around. Once anchored many canoes came out and we had a very busy few hours talking to the locals. When told what vegetables we needed they then came in wave after wave with veges until we had far too much.
It was a noisy anchorage with singing and drums playing until late. The next morning we up anchored and headed to Gizo. This was familiar trip now as we had been through the Blackett Strait and on to Gizo twice before. We made good time and got there in the early afternoon. It was the week before Easter and we wanted to do a big stock up before Good Friday, then head to the Manning Strait. The shopping and refuelling went well. Prices in the stores were up and down as the Solomon Island dollar was devalued 20% during our stay. This was reversed ten days later so we don't know how much our credit card advances went through at.
The low point was finding that Telstra had changed their pricing plans for home pages and deleted our home page!
Stocked up and ready to go we headed over to Liapari. Here we had Easter and were surprised by Courtney dressed up in a pink and purple dotted rabbit outfit with ears and white cotton tail. This was a secret plan constructed by Janet and Courtney. Liz did very well making some Easter eggs and we had our fill of chocolates. At Liapari we met MorayX who had come down from PNG with Saint Anna. They plan to head to Vanuatu and may do this in company with Tegan.
During our stay we caught up with Noel and Rosie and also met Monty and Michelle who are the managers of the dive boat, Bilikiki. It was getting ready to leave to go back into charter. The Spirit of Solomons was not going anywhere as there was not enough work for both boats and the Bilikiki's future was not certain. Michelle came from Belmont, NSW, which was a surprise. They were very generous to us, giving us use of the washing machine on board and we were able to collect books from their library and also gave us a carton of orange juice and UHT milk that was just out of date. They can't use it for the guests but it was still fine for us.
A leaking radiator hose was fixed after a days work removing bits and pieces to fit the replacement and we were ready to go again. We left Liapari late in the afternoon bound for Manning Strait which is between Choisel and Santa Isabel Islands. It was 65 miles and best done overnight as we would arrive in the midday and find our way in OK. It was a lovely night with light winds and a starry night. We sailed along slowly in the light winds but enjoyed the night and got a bit more ready for the doing the passages that are not that far away. We arrived at lunchtime and came up to Gibson Island where Tegan was anchored. This was a beautiful spot. The long thin Gibson Island on one side and a myriad of islets in a shallow lagoon on the other. The tide raced through here but we were securely anchored in 10 metres on a sandy bottom. It had the feeling of being in a river. The bird life was prolific, with a large colony of red parrots roosting on a nearby islet each night .
We enjoyed catching up with Tegan and the serenity of the location. We had a few good snorkels drifting (or racing once it really started flowing!) We saw lots of fish but didn't have much luck fishing until Joe came out for a fish and, after finishing his speech how he never catches fish, pulled in two nice big trevally.
We stayed here for a week and then rode the current like an express train out of the 'river' and went across the top of Rob Roy Island and stopped at a small bay known in the cruising guide as Bonsai, as there are two stunted trees on the reef fringing the entrance. Here we had a very rolly night and and while it was very pretty couldn't cope with the roll. The next day we went further west and came to Laina Passage where there was a small reef formed bay. It was a beautiful spot with large rainforest trees growing straight up from the waters edge as there was a steep cliff forming one side of the little bay. Here we met three brothers Danny, Greg and Habster, who lived there alone in a house built by an Australian who had built fibreglass boats there several years ago. The had a generator and, when it was working, made some money freezing fish and selling them. They were nice kids and kids they were, with Danny aged 20, and the other boys in their early teens. Habster and Greg took Joe and I looking for mud-crabs and after walking for ages in the dark on slippery rocks we came to the spot and after a short look told us the best time was not now but when the moon was out. I think they were just being polite to take us and didn't want say no when we asked if we could go.
After two nights there we sailed a long day over the top of Wagina Island and arrived at the Arnavon Islands. It was wonderful day with blue sky and clear waters and the two islands that make up the the group looked classically tropical. We came in anchored with Tegan already here and also MorayX, who had sailed overnight from Kolombanggara Island. The trolling on our trip over was successful with a big Spanish mackerel and a King snapper or Job fish.
The Arnavon Islands are a conservation area, with four men working there who collect research data on turtles, megapodes, and other wildlife on the islands. We went for a walk with one of the men, Arthur, and he showed us the beach where the turtles come in to lay their eggs and every night they observe this, marking the nest site and if they can count the eggs as they are laid. It was not the nesting season but there were still several nests and some due to hatch. The next day was Elizabeth's birthday (April 14) so in the morning a breakfast of pancakes and presents was made for the birthday girl. Liz and the girls went ashore for a swim and a relaxing day. While they were ashore the men on the island came in from a 'turtle rodeo'. Each Sunday they drive around the lagoon spotting turtles. When one is spotted they dive over the side, grab it, then ride it to the surface. They are then brought in for measurement and tagging. Four Green turtles were brought in we were all were thrilled to see these creatures up close. The girls helped to measure the turtles and we tried hard to get a photo of one in the water before swimming off.
That evening we assembled on Tegan with MorayX for a party for Elizabeth's birthday. Joe is quite the chef and prepared Poisson Cru (marinated raw fish), Sushi then barbequed Spanish Mackerel and Job Fish with Fried Rice. It was a wonderful meal and some saved bottles of Champagne made for a great night.The next day we went hunting for a good snorkelling spot. The tide was running out fast and we had a couple of fast drifts and then went over the far side for a look. We didn't have a lot of luck but found a nice couple of bommies in the middle of the lagoon. While swimming here I spotted a turtle and although I swam hard, I couldn't catch it. Not much of a turtle cowboy.
After a day's rest we planned to move on but first when we went ashore so Courtney could get some copies of the data sheets they use to record their turtle observations on. She says she'd like to be a marine biologist and this gave her a first hand experience of what the field work would be like. Arthur told us that a turtle nest may be ready to hatch that day so we decided to stay and see. After some school work we went ashore and walked over to the 'turtle beach', going across a large shallow lagoon. We came to the nest site and Arthur got the girls to do everything,. First they had to move away the top layer of sand until the little turtle heads popped up. Then they counted the turtles as the made their way out of the nest and down to the beach and off into the water. It was great fun and a wonderful experience seeing these tiny little things make there way, by instinct to the shore and off into the sea. The girls counted 61 until they reached turtles that were still developing and then covered the nest back over. This what they do all the time to ensure the maximum number of turtles make it to the sea as our presence keeps the predators away.
(we have pictures of the baby turtles but they ended up on a school project and didn't get scanned)
Mainly due to the fact that we had to pay to anchor at Arnavon we decided to move on. We followed Janet and Jo to the top of Santa Isabel and found them at a tight little anchorage west of Malokobi Is. This was very pretty, off a small island on a sand shelf just big enough to anchor on. I went for a snorkel with Joe to look for crayfish but although we didn't find any it was a good trip and I saw many large batfish who swam around me.
Courtney, Anna and I then went for a swim near the boat and then went on a 'flying drift' through the passage between the two islands. It was fun shooting along with the currents. We had a squall come over during the night with the main concern being how close together the were. The next day we moved and ended up going quite a distance up through the Kologilo Passage to the northern side of Santa Isabel.. We ran with the current of 4 knots through the passage which was a bit hairy with whirlpools forming around us. We went over the top of Popu Is in search of an anchorage and found MorayX anchored further along so decided to join them in the bay formed by Gaghe and Ghebira Islands. This was a mangrove lined bay that was very well protected and with no villages around. Once again this showed the wilderness value of this area. Trolling in the nearby passage produced a big trevally which fought hard and tasted lovely!
We stayed there for a few days and said goodbye to MorayX who were heading east to Santa Cruz. A day we later said goodbye to Tegan. One more great evening was spent 'Teganising' and generally we felt sad to say goodbye but both very happy with the time we had spent together.From this anchorage we made our way back to Arnavon Islands and then back across to Vanga on Kolombanggara Island.
